The Strange Mansion

......It's strange, Omake-sama.

<It's strange, Emi.>

I, Emi-chan the wild-child beautiful girl, age 8, had been wandering aimlessly across the vast snowfield.

What suddenly appeared before me was a mansion with an exterior that could only be described as, well, ‘strange’.

First off, the roof is bright red. Bright, bright red. Also, the window frames and other key spots are painted red too.

And the walls are slathered in bright yellow, with red polka dots painted here and there.

With pure white snow piled up all around it, the exterior stands out all the more bizarrely.

<Ah, no, this exterior is certainly eye-catching, but that is not the point. This is called the Sancolic style, an architectural style that became explosively popular on this continent about 300 years ago. Even now, you can occasionally see it in historic buildings.>

Ehh!?

Then this mansion is a historic building?

For a historic building, it looks reasonably new, though?

<I'm sure they just maintain it properly. More importantly, Emi, what I meant by strange was the location of this mansion.>

Location?

......You mean it's weird that this mansion is just sitting here all alone in the middle of a vast snowfield with nothing around it?

<Yes, exactly, Emi...... Perhaps this mansion is a villa for royalty...... no, maybe for some fabulously rich person?>

Huh? How do you figure that?

<They've set up a mansion somewhere this hard to reach. Which means the owner of this mansion might possess a teleportation magic circle.>

Teleportation magic circle?

<It connects distant places and makes instantaneous travel possible...... To put it simply, it's like a warp device created with magic power. That is a teleportation magic circle.>

Hee! So there's something that handy, huh!

But why does having one mean they're royalty or some fabulously rich person?

<Because they are very rare. After all, it is said that creating one with current human technology is nearly impossible. The teleportation magic circles remaining in this world today are either ‘god-made magic circles’ bestowed upon humans by gods, or relics created during the era when the Super-Ancient Magic Civilization flourished. Either way, they are incredibly rare, and not something ordinary commoners can casually own, and then use, at all.>

Su, Super-Ancient Magic Civilization!?

What's that!? What's that!?

<Well, we can talk about that in due time. More importantly, since we've found a mansion, why don't we head inside? I'm getting cold, for goodness' sake.>

Yeah, it's cold.

I agree with you on that.

I've gotten stronger, and I'm wearing layers of fluffy wolf pelts from the ones I hunted in bulk before, so it's not like it's an unbearable cold.

But, Omake-sama......

If I barged into that mansion all cheerful, with a “Sorry to intruude!” what do you think would happen?

<......The lights are on, so it doesn't seem to be, an empty house or one with everyone away...... There'd be, a fuss.>

Yeah.

Because I have black hair and black eyes.

Because I'm a cursed child......

<No, before that, your current appearance is the problem. If you appeared before people like that, you'd probably be named something like ‘Blood-Stained Furball Man’ and be classified as a monster.>

Hahaha, what are you saying about a beautiful girl like me, Omake-sama.

I'll knock you flying, you hear me.

Not that I can knock you flying!

Well, anyway, jokes aside.

I can't enter the mansion as I am.

It would cause an unnecessary fuss.

<Then, what will you do?>

I turn my head to the side.

There stands a relatively small building with a bright red roof and bright yellow walls, just like the mansion.

This is probably a storehouse.

I'll just pop into this storehouse and take a little break.

<Ehh, let's just sneak into the mansion, come ooon? It's sure to be warmer over there, you know?>

It's fine, it's fine.

When it comes to pointless trouble, none at all is best.

<Who cares if they make a fuss! Just make sure they can never make a fuss again!>

Your way of thinking is scary, Omake-sama!

Honestly, this person is always trying to turn me into the enemy of humanity~......

<But warm is better, isn't it~......>

Yes, yes, bear with it, bear with it.

Let's get into the storehouse quickly!

I move toward the storehouse door, stepping mogyu mogyu through the snow.

The storehouse is a bit smaller than the mansion, but it's still a perfectly impressive building.

The door is also large and made of metal, giving off a somewhat imposing vibe.

For now, I'll just let myself in for a bit~!

Hyah.

......Zu, zu, zuzuzu...... Bakin!!...... Gigigigigigigigi......

As I put a little strength into it, the metal door slowly swings open with a low, rumbling sound.

Luckily, the door didn't seem to be locked or anything.

<No, no, didn't it go ‘Bakin!!’? Wasn't that the sound of the lock breaking......?>

......Omake-sama, you think so too?

......Well, what's done is done!

I'll secretly hunt a large monster later and give it to them as an apology.

Now, more importantly.

Just intruding for a bit~!

......Gigigigigigigigi......

I enter the storehouse and close the door.

This storehouse is a stone building, and contrary to its flashy exterior, the inside consists of stone flagstones and stone walls.

Light pouring in from a window near the ceiling illuminates the empty storehouse.

<......There's, nothing here, is there. I was sure food or something would be stored in here.>

You're right, Omake-sama.

Well, for a storehouse used for daily food storage, the door was a bit too imposing.

I wonder what this storehouse is used for?

......Hm?

<What is it, Emi?>

Yeah, in the corner of the storehouse...... I felt like I saw something flash.

When I approach and crouch down, I find a small fragment of ore about the size of a soybean lying there.

I pick it up and take a good look at it.

The faintly red ore sparkles as it catches the light from the ceiling.

<Ah, this is magic ore. Though I don't know the exact type.>

Magic ore?

<It's ore that has undergone mana transmutation by being continuously exposed to magic power, such as from the influence of ley lines. It's used as a raw material for various magic tools.>

Hee.

Since a fragment of it is lying here, does that mean this storehouse was originally used to store that magic ore thing?

<Hmm, that might be the case......>

But it leaves me wondering why a villa? in the middle of a snowfield deep in the mountains would need such a storehouse.

<The mystery deepens...... Does this mean a development where my powers of deduction are put to the test awaits us ahead......!?>

If so, we're bound to struggle, huh.

<What did you saay!>

Ahaha, just kidding, Omake-sama!

I'm counting on you, really!

But well, I'm just borrowing this storehouse as a place to rest, so isn't it irrelevant what this storehouse is or what that mansion is?

<Ehh, but I'm curious.>

In that case...... upsy-daisy.

I sit down, leaning my back against the stone wall of the storehouse, and close my eyes.

I concentrate.

I turn my awareness, toward the mansion.

Thanks to my long, long life in the wild and the mana transmutation I've undergone, I've acquired very acute super fantasy hearing.

If I just concentrate like this......

“......please see to it.”

“......Certainly, then......”

“......the cleaning, again......”

See, just like that!

Even while inside the storehouse, I can hear the conversations inside the neighboring mansion!

As expected of a fantasy other world!!

<Even in a fantasy other world, probably only a tiny fraction of people can do that, you know? Your superhuman nature continues to amaze me.>

Anyway, Omake-sama.

I've got nothing to do while I rest anyway, so let's spy on what's going on inside the mansion from here.

<I see. You mean that by eavesdropping on the conversations, our questions might clear up, is that it?>

That's it.

Well, it's just to kill time, so if we don't find out, we don't find out.

With one thing and another.

Omake-sama and I began listening in, on the conversations inside the mansion.

......It happened in that, next instant.

That a high-pitched, hysterical scream came from inside the mansion.

Omake-sama's wickedness, popping up every so often.

This lady has her fair share of shady sides too, doesn't she?

But that she is on Emi's side is one fact that will never waver.

And it seems some incident has broken out over at the mansion.